Apparently today is World Bicycle Day! [1]

Coincidentally (i.e., before I learned this fact), this morning I happened to rediscover the presentation I put together to kick off the discussion at a virtual SciFoo session that I proposed and MCed back in 2021, entitled, “Creating the (next) bike revolution: biking as a powerful tool for improving health, climate, society . . .”

Therefore, in honor of World Bicycle Day [1], I will reiterate here the three claims I made there — which were then supported rather than refuted over the course of said session, and which I still stand by today:

Claim 1: Bicycles are the ideal choice for trips of a couple miles
Claim 2: More biking is better for us, both individually and collectively
Claim 3: Bike infrastructure is a powerful tool for social/societal good

And in case you would like to see the whole presentation, here it is in its entirety (with a healthy number of graphs and references, of course): PDF

Or if you want to skip to the end, here are the things I proposed as collective “action items”:

In conclusion, I encourage you to consider biking for any short trips you need to make today . . . Or if you cannot do that (e.g., due to not having access to a suitable bicycle or due to your local public infrastructure being bike-hostile), I encourage you to take some steps toward changing things, so as to be able to go for a bike ride next June 3rd!

[1] Cautionary note: Beware of mix-ups with the other “Bicycle Day” that is celebrated on April 19th . . .